One of Four
by MissJenca
Summary: An accidental discovery becomes a whole new adventure as the turtles find themselves on a whole different world. A plan in the making by an unknown adversary put all of them, as well as all worlds, at risk of complete destruction. Can the guys pull together and fight that which they have always stood by? Or will that darkness consume them?
1. Chapter 1

In all of his fifteen, almost sixteen, years, Donatello had never come across something like this. He and his brothers had come across aliens, monsters, all manner of evil and malevolent beings, and no small number of alternate universes. But never, EVER, had Don encountered anything like this. It was a computer he could not hack. Donnie shook his head in disbelief. He had been at this for almost a week now, and had tried every trick in the book, plus some new ones, but to no avail. iMan, this makes hacking into the government , no, hacking into Karai's network seem like opening a game solitaire! /i Don thought with a sigh. So absorbed was Donatello in his (so far fruitless) efforts, he did not even notice his brothers.  
"Got anything yet, Donnie?" Raphael asked. Raph wasn't gonna admit it, but he was starting to get concerned. This was bugging his techno-geek brother badly, and Raph was starting to worry that Don might go overboard like he always did when he worked too hard.  
Don jumped, suprised, then shook his head. "Nothing. I bearly even got a username. Whoever this Ansem guy is, he's GOOD." Donnie replied, sounding frustrated and a little defeated.  
Michaelangelo hugged Don's shoulders. "Don't worry Donnie!" Mike said with his usual good-natured smile.  
"Yeah, Don." Leonardo agreed with a nod and a hand on Donnie's free shoulder, "You'll get it. You always do."  
Don looked at his brothers, and nodded before looking back to the computer screen. "You know what? I just noticed something. It never asks for a password; it keeps asking for a key. I wonder if that means something . . ."  
Raph smirked; nothing ever outsmarted the brother in purple, and if it did, it never lasted long. "Knew ya'd get it."  
Don nodded, but he didn't really hear. His finger were flying over the keyboard, begining to understand the nature of the riddle. "The key . . . " he muttered.  
"Hm?" Leo inquired. "What are you talking about, Don?"  
"Yeah, bro! Don't we usually get a watered down version of the answer?" Mike asked, equally confused.  
"Well, I'm not sure what I found, to be honest." Don admited. "But I think it's the 'key' that I was suposed to be looking for. It says, 'For one darkness, there is one Key. Another darkness, another Key. The second Key is made of four.' It doesn't make much sense . . ."  
The brothers didn't have long to ponder. The moment Don finished speaking, the screen to his computer began glowing bightly, and all four felt themselves being pulled inside . . .


	2. Chapter 2

Leon stared out over Radiant Garden. It had been calm for a while, the heartless had not been much trouble as of late, and there had been no Nobodies to be seen. It bothered him more than a little, but not enough to not take advantage of the peace while it lasted. Leon looked over to Ansem's castle, where all of the trouble had started, and sighed. Yes, the peace would end soon enough, and Leon knew it . . .  
*****

The dusk flew to the master as fast as it could. Entering the throne room of the castle, the dusk bowed low and reported it's findings. **Another key, made of four, my lady. The second key has arrived.'** It spoke through the darkness, making no true sound.  
But the master understood, and she replied to her minion in a similar fashion. **'Bring them to me. The second darkness will awaken as planed.'**  
'**Yes, my lady.**' The dusk left the way it came, leaving the master alone. She pulled the hood of her cloak farther down over her face. _Yes, the second darkness will awaken,_ she thought with a small chuckle. _And not even the Keybearer can stop it . . ._

Mike groaned. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't manage it. He thought he heard someone talking, but before Mike could even try to figure out who it was, he lost consciousness again.

Aerith gasped as she tried to figure out who (or what) was lying on the floor of Ansem's computer room. Wondering what to do, Areith kneeled at his side and shook him softly. He groaned, and Aerith knew she had to help him. "Don't worry," she said softly, "you're going to be alright. I promise." He moaned again, and went limp.  
"Hey! What're you doing?" said a chipper voice behind her. Aerith turned and found herself face to face with her friend Yuffie. Yuffie only had to look once to see the problem. "Wow." She gasped. "He doesn't look too good. Maybe we should take him back to Merlin's place; have him checked out."  
Areith nodded, and each girl took a side of the green, orange banded stranger and started the trek back to the borough.

This time, Mike could open his eyes. "Dude . . " he moaned dizzily, trying to figure out where he was. It looked a little bit like a cottage. It was roomy, but filled to the brim with furniture, books, and stuff Mike couldn't even guess what they were. It mostly reminding him of Donnie's lab, but more, well, weird. "Toto, I don't think we're in New York anymore . . ." Mike quipped, getting up. As he looked out a window over by the door, Mike's eyes were met with more cottage like houses. "Yep. Defiantly not New York." He confirmed.  
"Hey! You're awake!" cried a chipper voice behind him. "Feeling any better?"  
"Ummm, a little, I guess." Mike said, turning quickly. The voice, he saw, belonged to a human girl not too much older than he was, with black hair, brown eyes, and a confident smile. She wore a short black shirt and what looked like khaki shorts, with tall black boots. But that wasn't what freaked Mike out; that honor went to the huge shuriken on the girl's back, which Mike swore was as big as he was. "Um, hi." Mike said, waving nervously.  
"Hey!" she replied unphazed, waving back in return. "Well, you got a name or what?"  
"I'm Mikey." Mike said warily, eyeing the giant weapon on her back.  
"Cool! I'm Grand Ninja Yuffie!" The girl said, almost cheering. "Nice to meet ya'!"  
"You too, dude!" Mike decided that he liked this girl (she didn't look like any Foot ninja he'd ever seen, so she couldn't be all bad), and shook her extended hand. "So, like, where am I? Defiantly not my nick of the woods."  
"This place is called Radiant Garden." said a soft voice from across the room. Mike turned to face the source of the voice. She was tall, and wore a pink skirt under a red and white top. She had a red bow tied in her long brown hair, which was braided. Her calm green eyes were unafraid and trusting, and the girl herself seemed to embody a serene and unjudging aura. "My name is Aerith; are you alright? You seemed hurt when we found you."  
"Um, yeah, I'm good." Mike said with a reassuring nod.  
"And where are you from, Mikey?" Yuffie asked, leaning in close. "You said you weren't from around here."  
"I'm from New York city, dudes!" Mike said proudly.  
"Where?" Yuffie asked confused, arching an eyebrow.  
"I've never heard of that world before . . ." Aerith said, equally bewildered.  
"Huh?" Now Mike was confused. "World? I mean, New York's a big place, but it's not a whole world!"  
"Oh boy . . ." Yuffie sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "We've got a lot of explaining to do."

"Sora? Sora! SORA!" Kairi called, putting her hands on her hips. She wore a pink mini-dress with a white shirt underneath. Her blue eyes showed her irritation, but no hint of anger. "Where are you, you lazy bum?" The young girl groaned, shaking her red haired head.  
A soft snore was heard over the waves on the beach beneath her.  
"Of course. He'd never pick anywhere else." Kairi sighed, rolling her eyes. She walked up to him, leaned over his face and . . . "SOOOOOORAA!" She shouted loudly, giggling as he thrashed about in suprise.  
"GAH! Kairi! You gotta stop doing that!" He complained, getting to his feet. Dusting the sand off his black and red outfit and his spiky brown hair, Sora gave Kairi a pouting face.  
"Then quit being late." Kairi accused. "Come on, Riku's looking for us. He's at the secret place."  
As the two friends approached Riku, the silver headed teen turned to them, his face and green eyes giving off a kind of seriousness that only came with urgency. His arms crossed in front of his white and yellow jacket over a black shirt, Riku paced the small cave, his blue pants making a small, quiet 'swish' noise as he walked. He nodded to them as they waved. "Hey guys." Riku said, getting right to the point. "Remember that door that was back here? The one that went to other worlds?"  
"Yeah." Kairi said with a nod.  
"What about it?" Sora asked with a shrug, putting his arms up behind his head.  
"Well, it's back." Riku answered, gesturing behind him. And sure enough, there it was. It was a large wooden door, with golden edging. All in all, it was rather unremarkable, save for the fact it was in the back of a small cave. "And when there's a way to other worlds-"  
"Something is happening." Sora finished, getting excited and gesturing with his now free hands. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go already!"  
"I'm with Sora on this one." Kairi agreed, although a lot more calm. "If we're gonna go, we should go together."  
"Then let's go." Riku said with a nod. "Whatever's over there won't wait forever."  
And with that, the three friends opened the door, and walked through . . .

Raph woke up to something dripping on his face. "Wha?" he moaned quietly, sitting up. His whole body ached, and he was extremely dizzy. Raph rubbed his eyes, confused. He seemed to be in some kind of cave, sitting in the middle of a small green puddle. As his vision cleared, Raph saw he was in a dark cavern next to a wide river. In short, Raphael had no clue where he was. "Hello?" He called out, slowly coming to a stand. "Leo? Don? Mikey? Where are you guys?"  
"Maybe I can help you with that?" a voice said behind him.  
Raph turned around and drew his sai at the stranger. "Who're you?"  
"Boy, I knew I was unpopular, but I didn't think it was this bad." The man told him with a laugh. At least, Raphael assumed he was a man; He wasn't entirely sure what this stranger was. He was blue skinned, and his head was covered in flames.  
"Wearin' a dress might be part of the problem." Raph said, obviously suspicious of him.  
"You must not be from around here then; togas are the big thing." the stranger explained, waving off the insult to his blue garb. "The name's Hades. Lord of the Dead."  
Raph immediatly tensed.  
"Now, now! Don't be so uptight!" Hades said. "I mean, I understand it's a little unsettling, but seriously, I just wanna talk, you know, maybe . . . set up a deal."  
"Deal?" Raph relaxed for a moment, but quickly went back into a defensive stance. "What kinda deal?"  
"You know, you scratch my back, I scratch yours kinda thing." Hades explained. "Come on, we can go back to my place and talk about it."  
Raph had a bad feeling about Hades. But he had a worse feeling about not finding his brothers. He put his sai away and followed. "Alright. Let's talk."

Leonardo was awakened to find himself in chains, attached to a large wooden pole. "Huh?" he moaned dizzily.  
"Quiet, monster!" a man screamed at him, pointing some weapon at his chest. Leo thought it was a pike; he couldn't really tell right then. "You shall not torture our villages anymore!"  
"What?!" Leo asked, wide awake now.  
"Quiet monster!" the man cried again, hitting Leo this time. "The Emperor will give you the justice you deserve."  
_Defiantly not a pike._ Leo thought, hearing the wooden tip thump off his shelled chest_. Lucky me. Maybe we can talk this out?_ "What exactly is it that I did?" Leo asked, looking around for clues to find out where he was. "Assuming that I am who you think I am." Leo saw nothing but bamboo trees. Not exactly the clue he was looking for, but it did help a little.  
"This is a trick!" The man accused, thumping Leo in the chest again. "You know full well what you have done to us! You sent your vile black creatures after us! You have destroyed our villages, tortured our people, and spoken death against our lord, the Great Emperor of China!"  
Leo gulped. _What have I gotten myself into now?_

Don shook his head and opened his eyes. And then immediately wished he hadn't when he saw a human right over his face. "AAAAaahhhh!" He screamed, jumping back and drawing his bo. However, Don quickly realized that he wasn't going to be able to defend himself, seeing as he could hardly stand, let alone fight this powerful looking, albeit naked, dread-locked stranger.  
The man looked confused as well, leaning away from Donatello. "Who . . . are you?" he asked.  
Don looked around, hoping he could find a place to run and hide instead of answering the question, but quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to hide anywhere safely in this jungle he'd somehow appeared in. And before he'd even realized it, Don passed out again, leaving himself at the mercy of the strange before him . . .


	3. Chapter 3

The further Hades lead Raphael into the Underworld, the more uncomfortable he felt. Understandably so; every ghastly face that passed the teen frightened him, each one looking like his brothers before the second glance.  
Hades was trying (and failing) to ease Raph's tension, but being the Lord of the Dead happens to put a damper on that. "Heh, don't worry kiddo; they aren't gonna hurt ya. Not with me here, of course."  
Raph held back a glare; this was a god he was dealing with, and even he wasn't stupid enough to fight with a god. Not without a good reason, of course.  
"Besides," the god continued, "it ain't so bad down here, once you get used to it. And get over, you know, the smell, the continual screaming, the bland color scheme . . . .-" Raphael's unamused face ended the small amusing rant that Hades had started. "Oy, tough crowd." he muttered, rolling his eyes and rubbing a hand over his fiery head. "What's eating you, kid? Raphael, right?; that joke's usually a killer. You know, so to speak."  
Raph gave a soft huff in reply; god or not, there was no way Raph was going to look scared in front of this joker. Even so, something about Hades rubbed the red-banded turtle the wrong way, and Raph prided himself on being a fairly good judge of character.  
Hades gave a quick chuckle; "Duh. You're probably looking for someone you know, aren't ya? Well, believe me; business has been slow enough that I can near guarantee you don't know anyone down here."  
"This got somethin' ta do with that deal?" Raph huffed; he was loosing patience, mostly with himself admittedly but he really wanted a change in subject and was no where near ready to to admit why to anyone. "What do ya want from me, anyway?"  
"Well, you like to get right to the point, don't cha?" Hades seemed pleased with this. "You're pretty sharp."  
Raph nearly snorted in amusement; he could almost hear Mikey's comment. _Raph? Sharp? HA! Sharp like a piece of soggy cereal, maybe!_  
"You're right though; like I said, business is slow. And there's _one_ guy in particular who's been . . . gumming up the works." Hades took a moment to compose himself; _We got a nibble here, let's not lose it_. Hades reminded himself. His last few deals and plans had worked out . . . less than satisfactory. "Now, this wouldn't be so much of a problem, save for this; I can't just go up to the mortal world and kill him myself. Easy, yes. Possible, no. See, even when business is slow, it never sleeps; I gotta stay here, keep things in order."  
"What does any a' dat got ta do wit' me?" Raph asked, biting back a growl.  
"Ah! This is where you come in, my reptilian friend!" Hades assured him, wrapping his arm around Raph. Raph kept his hand on Hades arm, forcing at least a little space between them. Hades held out his hand, and fire filled it, floating just above the god's palm. "This is the guy." Hades explained, and the fire settled out into the form of a man. The figure was very muscular, and wore armor and a blue cape. His wavy hair was held back by a headband, though a lock hung out in front, and his face was chiseled and strong. "His name is _Hercules._" Hades had to compose himself again, and Raph could almost taste the disdain and anger in the god's voice before he crushed the golden figure in a tight fist. "And the little snot has been a pain in my side for a while now, if you couldn't tell."  
"Now, you seem like a pretty tough guy to me, Raphael. Can I call you Raph; your whole name's a bit of a mouth-full, and I don't wanna feel like I'm chewin' on ya every time I talk to ya. 'Cause we could be partners. Friends, even. I don't like to chew on friends; it makes me feel like a bad guy."  
Raph nodded; only Master Splinter called him by his full name anyway, or Donnie would if he was angry or Leo was reprimanding him.  
Hades' smile grew wide. "Great! So Raphie-boy, here's the deal; you take care of the little snot for me, and I give you one favor. I know, it don't sound like much, but I'm god; that's one anything at all. Riches, a pretty girl you like, some . . . info on friends, maybe . . ."  
"You . . . can find my brothers?" Raph asked, suspicious. It sounded too easy.  
"Ha! That's all?" Hades laughed, and even though the god had turn slightly, Raph's ears were ringing. "Listen up kiddo, I know these _lovely_ ladies," and Hades tried not to gag at the mention of the Fates, "who would tell you, in no uncertain terms, the exact location and condition of your brothers. You take are of Hackules, I give you the key to getting to your brothers." Hades opened his hand, and a quick burst of flame produced-  
"Is that an eyeball?" Raph nearly gagged.  
"Yeah." Hades replied, in a tone that obviously took the statement that Raph 'was pretty sharp'. It was, in fact an eyeball staring Raphael in the face. It was red, veined, and disgusting, and Raph had trouble looking directly at it.  
"That's nasty."  
"Yeah." Hades said again, but this was a bit more accepting; he wasn't much of a fan of the Fates himself. "But, this is the one, and only way, to get those girls to talk. So." Hades voice dripped every drop of charm he could muster, "My pain in the neck, for your brothers. Have we got a deal?"


End file.
